What Does Leviticus 24:14 Mean in the King James?
Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, hearing cannot remain invisible: those who heard place their hands on the accused before the congregation stones him.
THE MEANING
The hearers place their hands on the man’s head, and the congregation stones him. Speech, witness, and lethal punishment occupy one public sequence; the violence is literal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that witnesses remain mere observers is unsettled here: the hearers are explicitly named among those who act before the assembly stones him.
THE ROOT
הַמְקַלֵּל
ha-meqallel the one
GROWS FROM
קלל
q-l-l
Be light or slight; make light of; in this form, curse or revile.
“cursed” in this verse is ha-meqallel the one. The root holds the force of cursing together with the sense of making light of or treating as contemptible. That shade deepens the utterance’s meaning without reducing it to a mere insult.
ALSO GROWS
qelalah: Curse
קְלָלָה
This noun from the same root keeps the connection between cursing and treating something as slight or contemptible.
qalal: Be light or make light of
קָלַל
This verbal form exposes a shade that the English word “cursed” does not show by itself.
הַשֹּׁמְעִים
ha-shom'im those who
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear or listen; the root can carry responsive hearing when the context implies it.
The word identifies the people who heard the curse; the sentence then assigns them a physical role. Their participation comes from that command, while the root itself means hearing, not witnessing or judging.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear or listen; respond when the context calls for it
שְׁמַע
It shares the root’s range of hearing and listening, while this verse specifies what the hearers do next.
shemuah: A report or something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun makes the root’s connection to received speech visible.
וְסָמְכוּ
ve-samkhu and they
GROWS FROM
סמך
s-m-k
Lean on, support, uphold, or place a hand upon.
“lay their hands” in this verse is ve-samkhu and they. The verb makes the hearers’ role physical: they touch the man’s head before the congregation stones him. The same root can describe support or leaning, but this verse does not explain the gesture as a transfer of guilt.
ALSO GROWS
samak: Lean on, support, or place a hand upon
סָמַךְ
This verb carries the physical act named in the verse as well as the broader sense of support.
somekh: One who supports or upholds
סוֹמֵךְ
This related form shows the root’s support meaning alongside its use for placing a hand.
THE PATTERN
When a community treats speech as an offense, hearing it can place witnesses inside the public response.
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.THE THREAD
And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;Numbers uses the same root, סמך (s-m-k), meaning to support or place a hand, when Moses lays his hand on Joshua. The shared word names a physical act, while the surrounding passages give it different functions; the root alone does not say that guilt transfers.
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